


Ashes to Ashes

by winters_prince



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Angst, Brotherly Love, Crossing Timelines, Crying, Determination, Gen, Papyrus is a goober, Sans has time travel drama, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-27 11:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5045926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winters_prince/pseuds/winters_prince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sequel to "Dust to Dust"</p>
<p>Papyrus is aware of the looping timelines, and does what he has to do.  What can he do, however, when his brother asks what's eating him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ashes to Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to a previous fic, Dust to Dust. Please read that first if you can, and comment if you liked the story!

Lugging the unplugged microwave through the snow, Papyrus laughed to himself. “WON’T WORK WHEN IT’S UNPLUGGED...HAH! HE’LL SEE WHEN THE HUMAN FALLS FOR IT! THIS TIME, FOR SURE. I MADE THE SPAGHETTI TEN MINUTES EARLIER, SO IT DOESN’T HAVE TIME TO FREEZE!” Smacking the microwave on the rickety table for what must have been the twenty-fifth time this morning-although, really, with how often he’s gone through it, is it still THIS morning?-Papyrus let out a sigh, and had just turned to set back to the house, maybe fix the stepping puzzle into his face before it froze this time, when it struck again.

The roar.

The yank.

The crunch.

Then finally, the reset finished, and there he was again, that morning, staring at his feet as he did every reset. And he was back to work; those puzzles were never going to reset themselves set-up already, and someone had to be working around here! So set off The Great Papyrus to his work once again.

That work this reset consisted of prying their microwave from the wall, while his lazybones brother watched from the side. Sans was great, and hearing him talk about how cool and strong he was helped motivate Papyrus (especially because he was right), but microwaves are hard to move, especially when they’re superglued to the counter by some mysterious prankster.

Through hollow chuckles, Sans poured himself another mug of hot chocolate. Where he got it, who knew, but it was like he always had the stuff. It never occured to Papyrus to ask-his brother had strange ways, but that didn’t make him love Sans any less.

Papyrus, after all, had his own strange ways. The resets. He must have been the only one who knew. He hadn’t told anybody about them-not even Sans-because how could he begin to explain? Once they ended, that would have to be the time. Then he could tell Sans, and maybe everyone. He’d trust Sans with anything, after all, he thought as he kicked open the door and heaved the microwave through it.

Most resets, Sans waved him off, and then somehow ended up at his post-for once-in time for the human to show up. Papyrus didn’t question it, because most things fall into repetition during the resets, even himself. This time, however, Sans decided otherwise, and with a short hop out their doorstep, tagged along with Papyrus.

Papyrus questioned this, because this was the first time it had happened. He tried not to let it show, though, and kept his trademark, “everything-is-fine” Papyrus face.

“SANS, DON’T YOU NEED TO GET TO YOUR POST? IT’S HARDLY MORNING.” Papyrus asked, moving his head to the other side of the microwave to look at the smaller skeleton.

“heh, guess i’m breaking early. can’t i tag along and help you set up your traps for the day? especially after that, uh, fiend solves all your puzzles overnight.”, sans replied, looking up at his much taller (and much cooler) brother, hands deep in his jacket pockets, one pocket holding the power plug for the microwave.

“I’LL CATCH HIM ONE DAY!” Papyrus exclaimed, shaking a fist in the air for effect.

“yeah, sure you’ve got a _bone_ to pick with that guy.” sans said with his usual chuckle. He knew, obviously, that he was the one who solved all the puzzles, but it made it worth it when Papyrus burst into his room with an even bigger grin on his face than usual to tell him about the fiend’s latest strike.

After a particularly long stretch of silence, unusual for the bone brothers, Sans piped up once again. “hey, bro, something up? you’re making this...face, like you just saw the new junior jamble.” He was clearly concerned, although his usual grin betrayed nothing. If anything, he was much better at the “everything-is-alright” game than Papyrus.

“WH-WHAT? ME?” Papyrus replied, with as hearty a laugh as he could muster. “EVERYTHING IS FINE. I JUST HAVE THIS FEELING THAT...THAT TODAY’S THE LUCKY DAY. WE’RE GOING TO SEE A HUMAN, AND THEN UNDYNE IS GOING TO MAKE ME PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! JUST YOU SEE!” Nailed it. That sounded like a good enough excuse, primarily because Papyrus already knew that he was right. Well, mostly right.

“heh, whatever you say,” Sans chuckled. “but, you know...if something’s up. just saying. lemme help. I might be lazy, but if anything’s rattling your bones, lemme know.”

This was met with a groan and a thanks from Papyrus, and then a hefty grunt to lift up the microwave once again.

After they managed to pass the bridge-Papyrus peeking into the abyss to make sure his ultimate trap was ready-to-go, although the human could NEVER make it that far-Papyrus broke from the loop of his usual reset antics. He sighed, and decided on the truth.

“SANS.”, he said, and his voice had fallen an octave. If there’s something The Great Papyrus is never, it’s quiet.

“yeah?” came the nonchalant reply between crunches-Sans had brought along the last bag of chips they’d had, and was munching as they walked, even if all the chips just fell out of his ribs anyway.

“DO YOU...HAVE.....” Papyrus struggled to get the words out. How could he begin with this? How could he hope to?

“HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN THIS FEELING, THAT...THAT...THE DAY IS REPEATING?” He finally managed, although that was much more vague than he would’ve liked.

“we don’t got a sun, bro. it’d be pretty hard for it to feel like the day isn’t repeating. we don’t even have a day-”  
“NO, SANS, NOT LIKE THAT.” Papyrus interjected, cutting off the unusually shaky laugh that Sans had given. “IT’S NOT THAT IT FEELS LIKE IT’S REPEATING...IT’S THAT, WELL, IT IS. YOU’RE STANDING THERE, PLATING SPAGHETTI, AND THEN-”

Papyrus stopped. He couldn’t hear Sans footsteps next to him anymore. He turned around, and looking up from the trail the now-dropped plug was making through the snow and their footprints, he locked eyes with Sans.

He’d never seen Sans look like that before. Not to him, not to anyone.

Sans looked afraid.

His eyes were wide, and his smile had almost disappeared. The bag of chips had crunched in his quivering hand, the other hand left free to hover in the air. Sans was totally speechless.

“H-HEY, YOU LAZYBONES, WHY THE LONG FACE? IT’S NOTHING. PROBABLY JUST A BAD DREAM THAT I HAD, RIGHT? I TOLD YOU, GRILLBY’S IS BAD STUFF. COME ON, LET’S GET GOING! HUMANS WAIT FOR NO MONSTER!” Papyrus kept walking, made an attempt at progress, but he could feel Sans’ eyes boring into the back of his head. He stopped again, and looking back, noticed Sans was right behind him, in spite of the single set of footprints.

Sans reached out, and grabbed onto Papyrus scarf. His fingers squeezed hard into the orange fabric, shaking, shaking worse than the cold could have been doing.

“pap...” Sans began, his voice quivering. “how long...how...when did this happen?” The jovial tone was entirely out of Sans’ voice. For the first time, Papyrus felt worried about what his brother could do, what he would do.

“I-I...IT’S BEEN, UH.....THIS MORNING HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST TWENTY TIMES BY NOW? I LOST COUNT. THE G-GREAT PAPYRUS CAN’T BE BOTHERED TO DO ANYTHING BUT GET TO FIXING THE PROBLEM!” Papyrus spat, trying his best to keep his cool past his newfound fear.

“...there is no problem. at least, not one that i know how to fix, yet.” Sans returned, his hand loosening a little. “i don’t know how you got sucked into this, but i’m sorry, pap. you’re too cool for all this,” he admitted with another chuckle, although this one sounded more like he was trying to keep a facade going than a genuine laugh.

“WHAT ARE YOU /TALKING/ ABOUT, SANS?” Papyrus shouted. He was nervous about admitting his secret before, and now he was just confused-which was nothing new, to be fair, but The Great papyrus is not one for confusion.

“for me...it’s always like this.” Sans admitted. He didn’t sound scared or nervous anymore. He just sounded sad. “you can’t imagine how this feels,” he admitted. “i lost count at fifty...i don’t know how many times i’ve had to go through with this. seeing what frisk does to you. seeing what frisk does to...” he trailed off, and he didn’t sound like he wanted to finish. Papyrus knew what he was going to say, at least. He’d known since the sixth reset. Then the eigth, then the twelfth, then...the point was, he knew.

“you can’t keep doing this to yourself, pap. sometimes, when Frisk comes along...they’re just a bad kid, sometimes. i’ve seen it. i’ve seen you. and you have too.” Sans said, his grip now again tight and shaking. “it’s happened so many times. they come. they fight. you die. and you keep going back, again and again, and you keep accepting them, again and again. why? why are you so...determined to help!?” Sans asked, his voice now cracking unstoppably, big, round tears rolling down his cheekbones.

“SANS...” Papyrus trailed, and his voice cracked. He thought he was the only one. He thought he’d been alone. At least then, he’d had the comfort that Sans didn’t have to see him die. Now, he had the comfort that his brother was with him through it all, and the pain to know that he’d seen it all.

“YOU SHOULD KNOW THE ANSWER, BY NOW. I KNOW THE HU-...I KNOW FRISK. I LOVE THEM. I KNOW YOU DO TOO.” Papyrus admitted, his voice quiet for once as he embraced his smaller, sobbing brother. “THEY CAN DO RIGHT. I KNOW THEY CAN, EVERY TIME. SOMETIMES, MAYBE I’LL DIE BECAUSE OF IT...BUT IF THAT’S HOW IT HAS TO BE, THAT’S HOW IT HAS TO BE. I CAN’T BE THE GREAT PAPYRUS FOREVER!” He said, cracking a big smile to try and lighten Sans’ mood in spite of himself. He’d spoken the truth, and they both knew it. “THAT’S WHY I WON’T STOP. THAT’S WHY YOU CAN’T EITHER. IF THE TWO OF US CAN’T FIX THIS...FRISK CAN. I KNOW IT.”

Sans tears had finally begun to subside, and through hiccups and rubs of his cheekbone, he chuckled again. This chuckle wasn’t hollow, like before, however. It was hopeful, just as Papyrus’ words had been. “i guess you’re right, pap,” Sans admitted, “maybe i’ve been...a _bone_ head this whole time. let’s keep with frisk, alright? They might be a bad kid, some loops...but i’ll be damned if when they’re a good kid, i don’t love that kid.”

“SO, WHEN THE NEXT LOOP COMES...AND THE ONE AFTER THAT, WE’LL SEE IT THROUGH TOGETHER?” Papyrus asked, his hands still tight on Sans’ shoulders.

“what else are brothers for?” Sans asked, the glow in his eyes and the joy in his grin back once again.

That’s when they heard the roar and felt the yank.

And back they were, feet fresh in the snow, more ready than either of them had been before to do what had to be done.

*ACT


End file.
